Sonic the Hedgehog is 20 Years Old Today!

By Daz Calvert - 23 Jun, 2011

This is where it all started!

On 23rd June 1991, SEGA released Sonic the Hedgehog in Europe and America and changed the world forever. The now-iconic hero captured the imagination of millions around the world, igniting the Nintendo vs. SEGA battle for console supremacy.

The original Sonic the Hedgehog on the Mega Drive was reviewed in issue 10 of Mean Machines and scored an impressive 92%. Paul Glancey praised the platformer for offering so many opportunities for exploration, while Rich Leadbetter dared to suggest it was even better looking than Super Mario World!

Five months later in issue 15 of Mean Machines the guys reviewed the Master System version of Sonic, which scored a respectable 90%. Rich Leadbetter praised the 8-bit version for its sense of speed but criticised it for being so easy to complete. Julian 'Jazza' Rignall similarly praised the game for its technical accomplishments, but also noted it was too easy for him too.

SEGA went on to release Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic Spinball, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3D Blast which were all reviewed in Mean Machines SEGA. Since then SEGA’s mascot has showed no signs of slowing down with Sonic Colours and the recent release of Sonic 4 for download.

We hope you’ll join with us in wishing Sonic a happy 20th birthday!

Jaz's Sheep - 23 Jun 2011, 11:17 GMT

20 years! Crikey! As I've posted before I hated the Sonic games then and still do now, but there's no denying his culteral influence and weight in the SEGA V Nintendo battle (even if it was him who made me decide to let go of my SEGA fanboy loyalty and give Nintendo a go).

Happy birthday Sonic!

Glochenvar - 23 Jun 2011, 11:30 GMT

My first console and game was Sonic the Hedgehog and that rubbish game Fantasia :)

thejanitor76 - 24 Jun 2011, 00:47 GMT

20 Years old.. And still being played by gamers all over the world to this day.. Just goes to show you what a game sonic was... I wonder if people will remember gears of war or killzone in 20 years time.. PS. Love this web site .